OK, Jellies, what are we reading this summer?
I have just read a couple of thrillers, Extinction by Douglas Preston, which has a pretty good story, but reads like his editors were on vacation (ugh), and Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson, which did the edge-of-the-seat thing for me from start to finish. I had to temper it with a super lightweight cute book.
I want titles! Authors! Quickie reviews! Enlighten me about your literary endeavors, please!
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35 Answers
Northern Spy by Flynn Berry was a good thriller about two sisters in Northern Ireland during the more recent troubles.
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Henry is a sweet novel about two sister evacuees during the Blitz. One disappears, the other keeps searching for her. Very engaging.
For a fun beach read, Elin Hildrebrand’s newest Nantucket novel, Swan Song is very enjoyable.
I’m taking an online course on New York fiction with Adam Gopnik so for that I’m reading Edith Wharton short stories and John O’Hara’s Butterfield 8 so far.
@janbb I really liked Flora Lea, and I have enjoyed others of Henry’s.
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston – “In 2000, Douglas Preston fulfilled a dream to move his family to Italy. Then he discovered that the olive grove in front of their 14th century farmhouse had been the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, meets Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to learn more.
This is the true story of their search for—and identification of—the man they believe committed the crimes, and their chilling interview with him. And then, in a strange twist of fate, Preston and Spezi themselves become targets of the police investigation. ”
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann – “A witty philosophical murder mystery with a charming twist: the crack detectives are sheep determined to discover who killed their beloved shepherd.”
And today I started:
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough – ” The Brooklyn Bridge was at once the greatest engineering triumph of the age, a surpassing work of art, a proud American icon, and a story like no other in our history…The Great Bridge is a sweeping narrative of a stupendous American achievement that rose up out of its era like a cathedral, a symbol of affirmation then and still in our time.”
@Call_Me_Jay I will definitely look for Three Bags Full. Sounds like my kind of whimsy.
And speaking of whimsical mysteries, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter by Susan Wittig Albert are wonderful stories set in the Lake District and featuring Beatrix Potter and a cast of villagers and animals who comment on the action, including Rascal the supervising Jack Russell.
I just finished Mountain Climbing in Sheridan Square by Stan Leventhal. It’s an older book from earlier in the AIDS crisis but still very enjoyable. Before that, I read his other book completed not long before his death from AIDS related complications, Skydiving on Christopher Street. Both are well done.
I read almost entirely on a Kindle. Amazon has raised prices of their books, so I have to search for older ones that are cheap. How much do books cost for Nook? Kindle books used to be $10 or $12. It seems now they’re all $14 and $15. I would switch right away, but I’ve got at least 500 Kindle books.
@Hawaii_Jake I read on a nook, and yeah, the prices of some ebooks have gone up, but I seem to get a lot of my books from https://www.bookbub.com/. Somet8mes they have deals on new titles, you can register your preferred genres and authors, it’s a great way to pad your kindle library without breaking the bank.
I’m halfway through “Toy Fights” Don Paterson’s autobiographical account of the first 20 years of his life. Very funny at times and with surprising insights.
Now that I’m in Mexico, I’ve been wanting to get through more of my collection of Latin American literature. I finally began the epic tome that is 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (The Savage Detectives is one of my favorite novels of all time), as well as The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes.
On the non-fiction front, I’ve got The Hundread Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi. Haven’t started it yet, but I think it will be well worth a read.
I’ve recently finished the second of S. J. Bennett’s delightful mystery series festuring Queen Elizabeth as an extremely discreet sleuth in her own sphere. The first was called The Windsor Knot, and the second, All the Queen’s Men (in the UK, A Three Dog Problem). I found them lightweight and the characters a bit hard to track, but what Anglophile couldn’t love all the insider details, whether they’re true or not?
Now I’ve moved on to N. K. Jemison’s A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, first of a trilogy that is challenging in terms of weight, scale, and complex fictional inventiveness, like its predecessor The Inheritance Trilogy, which kept me going for weeks.
Once I get through this, it’ll definitely be time for some nonfiction. Maybe that Douglas Preston one, @Call_Me_Jay. Pretty sure I’m going to be dodging political analysis as a genre.
I just bought Fauci’s book.
@Jeruba ”Pretty sure I’m going to be dodging political analysis as a genre.” Well put, me too!
@filmfann Please let me know how you like that, I am considering it.
Bad Games by Jeff Menapace. A psycho killer story recommended by my SIL.
The Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson. A fantasy series recommended by both my sons.
@canidmajor I just ordered Eruption thanks to your question. It will arrive tomorrow and I can’t wait. I haven’t read a book in a few years, so something that starts off quick like you described is exactly the book I need to pick up reading again.
I did a lot of reading the past two years but that was for educational purposes. I desperately need something for entertainment.
I am reading Eruption as well! Also, I picked up an old trilogy that had been sitting on my bookshelf forever. It’s called the Wars of Light and Shadow, and it’s by Janny Wurts. There’s actually 11 books in my series but I only have the first three. It was one of those instances when I bought the books years ago and then never read very far into the first one but I’m really enjoying it!
@seawulf575 I love those books by Brandon Sanderson! Such an amazing world he’s created!
@canidmajor I use BookBub as well, along with a couple of other similar websites, but because I prefer to read real books, I don’t often get books on there.
I’m writing more than reading lately.
@LifeQuestioner That’s what my boys said. I used to be very into Sci-Fi and Sword & Sorcery fantasy. I loved the multiverse stories created by Michael Moorcock. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser were also good. The Sword of Shannara was good, though I got too busy with life to go much deeper into that series. The Thomas Covenant series was also good, though to me a bit depressing. I think the Hobbit and LOTR is what really kicked me off on fantasy way back in about the mid-70’s. This is really my first time of dipping my toe into the genre in a long time.
I haven’t tried Book Bub yet. But if you like real books in your hands, check out AbeBooks to help find hard to find books.
@candimajor I tell people I bought it to see what he said about me.
I use the library for about 85% of my reading.
I use the library a lot, too. Sometimes for ebooks, usually for hard copy books (and CDs and DVDs). I buy occasionally from the Friends of the Library sale rack, the books are usually $4 or less.
When I buy online, I look at the used books on Amazon, prices are usually ⅓ or ¼ of new.
Im halfway through the Dow of Drizzt.
@janbb I used to go to the library all the time! But now in our county they do this weird thing where they don’t return books back to the branch they originated from. They leave them at whatever Branch you returned them to. Which makes it hard if you want to go to your local branch and brows because sometimes you can’t find much at all. Besides, I decided a while back but I have too many books at home that I own that I still haven’t read so I’m trying to cut down on those.
@LifeQuestioner I justify the amount of books that I buy and will probably never get around to reading (I don’t want to live that long!!!) as “Supporting the Arts”. It allows me to acquire even more, they are shinier somehow, when new. ;-)
@canidmajor I like your reasoning. But I am mine for the fact that I’m going to have to move in about 11 months so I don’t want to go crazy before then. I already have 11 bookcases full.
Oh, @LifeQuestioner, been there, done that! That’s why god made liquor boxes.
And, now that I almost exclusively use my ereader, the storage capacity is fantastic!! ;-D
@LifeQuestioner Can you request books you want and have them get them in from another branch? I can see why that is a pain though.
@janbb I can, but you’re right, that is a pain. And right now I can’t go out to the library anyway.
@janbb thanks! It turns out to be a mixed blessing in a way because since I can’t go to work right now, they’re allowing me to work from home. It’s been so hot and humid this summer that I would really be struggling if I had to go out everyday for work. So while I rather not be in this situation, I’m definitely not regretting not being able to go out in the heat.
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